Editorial: This behavior is history

We didn't think it needed repeating but apparently some people have not gotten the word: Political patronage and Boss Tweed-type pressure and favoritism have been outlawed.

The Patriot Ledger

We didn't think it needed repeating but apparently some people have not gotten the word: Political patronage and Boss Tweed-type pressure and favoritism have been outlawed.

The subject has arisen in Braintree where Police Chief Paul Frazier is accusing Darrin McAuliffe, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, of trying to strongarm Frazier into hiring a favored candidate for one of the department's four vacancies.

While McAuliffe denies putting pressure on Frazier, he admits to passing the candidate's name along to Frazier for consideration because he is a Braintree resident.

Frazier tells a different story and one, quite frankly, that resonates given his above-board treatment of the issue. Frazier wrote to the selectmen as well as interim Executive Secretary Susan Kay saying that McAuliffe has repeatedly put pressure on him since an initial discussion in April, with Frazier claiming McAuliffe said "It's political and I have to get it done."

Frazier said McAuliffe, who is active in the Republican party, told him an unnamed powerful GOP leader was the force behind the move to hire the Abington police officer for Braintree's force.

Frazier said he had received a resume from the officer two years ago but the Abington chief gave him a tepid review.

"I don't know how many times I told him 'no,'" Frazier told the Ledger. Fellow Selectman James Casey said while members of the board can request someone be interviewed and can veto a candidate, it is unusual for anyone on the board to heavily lobby on someone's behalf.

What this anecdote clearly shows, however, is why the power to hire police officers - or firefighters - ought to be more fully vested with chiefs who have a better handle on their department members and needs rather than elected officials who have favors to repay and political ramifications to consider.

Braintree, like most other towns, hires off a Civil Service list, with the top candidate being assumed to be the best hire. If someone at the top of a list is passed over, there has to be a written explanation and the move has to be approved by Civil Service officials.

McAuliffe, whose board still has the power to approve appointments until the new mayor is elected, was clearly within his rights to recommend a town resident to Frazier. But it should have stopped there and anything more than one call or meeting on the subject clearly borders on abuse of power.

It should also be a lesson to all elected officials that there is a right way and a wrong way to act in a position of public trust. Turning town hall into Tammany Hall became the wrong way years ago.